Bread is a common staple and is found both as a standalone food as well as an ingredient in many dishes. Many restaurants use considerable quantities of quality breads every day. Many restaurants lack the time, manpower, and expertise to make their own bread to meet their daily needs. Mass baking and distribution of bread, however, raises complex logistical challenges. For example, bread is generally prepared (e.g., ingredients combined) and baked or (par-baked) in bulk. Different bread types must be prepared in different ways using different recipes. Sufficient quantiles of bread are shipped to restaurants to support their customers. Quantity of shipped bread must be sufficient to meet demand but avoid degradation of quality of the bread either through deformation or staleness. Unfortunately, staff at restaurants are often required to perform additional steps to prepare and finish baking the final product.
In one example, sufficient quantities of dough may be shipped frozen from a baker to a restaurant. Prior to shipping, the frozen dough may be portioned into desired sizes. After the dough is thawed at the restaurant, the dough is generally proofed. Proofing dough (i.e., a dough-rise step) can present problems at restaurants with constrained space, limited equipment (e.g., no cabinet retarders), and inexperienced staff. If a batch of dough is not proofed properly, then the entire batch of the dough is ruined. Further, a batch of dough during proofing takes up space and carries the risk that that the dough (or a cart on which the dough is supported) could be knocked over or bumped, thereby ruining the entire batch of the dough.